Since he came into office, President Jimmy Carter has shown a tremendous interest in renewable sources of energy. Before ending his term, Mr. Carter became the first president to power portions of the White House with solar panels. 

In 1979, he was even quoted saying that solar panels could just become ‘one of the greatest and exciting adventures undertaken by the American people’. He wasn’t wrong. The solar panels that Jimmy Carter placed in the White House, however, didn’t last too long, as his successor, Ronald Reagan, removed them as soon as he won the presidency. 

Years on, the ex-president has continued investing in solar energy and is currently powering parts of his hometown in Georgia with solar panels. Since 2017, Mr. Carter has placed numerous panels covering 10 acres of his farmland to power the town of Plains, Georgia.  Currently, there are 3,852 solar panels capturing Georgia’s sunlight, providing the small town of 800 people with more than half of its energy requirements. The patch of land is able to provide 55 million kilowatt-hours of clean energy for the Plains. 

Back in 1979 solar panels were an absolute novelty. Now, Mr. Carter can’t wait for the continual growth of renewables. “Clean energy generation is critical in fighting the effects of climate change. I’m encouraged by the tremendous progress that solar and other clean energy sources have made in recent years, and expect the trend to continue.”